


Inhale, exhale

by kurojiri



Series: Drarryland prompt fills [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Department of Mysteries, Draco Malfoy mentioned, Drarryland 2019, Drarryland: A Drarry Game/Fest, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Hopeful Harry, M/M, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Pre-Relationship, Second Chances, Sirius Black Lives, Teddy is still an orphan, Trials
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 12:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurojiri/pseuds/kurojiri
Summary: The Department of Mysteries needed to up their security. That was all Harry could think after he'd accidentally read something he was sure he wasn't supposed to.But, it'll turn out alright. Right?





	Inhale, exhale

**Author's Note:**

> BONUS CATEGORY | FORBIDDEN FOREST (Hidden Things)
> 
> PROMPT  
> Harry or Draco stumbles upon something in the Department of Mysteries -- either 1) he is hit with a Narrator's Curse and suddenly has a person's voice in his head as if his life were a story -OR- 2) he finds the library of Wizard and Witch Biographies, where each and every person's biography exists already finished. Write what happens the next day. Minimum: 379 words - Maximum: 1379 words. Must include Narrator's voice or excerpts from the Biography.

He could admit that he had a reckless streak. It had been in his blood (his father), in the way he was taught to survive (living with too many Gryffindors encourage that trait) and really, Harry Potter had to live in spite of everything and everyone trying to make his life a bit harder. So, it had not been that surprising that he had managed to stumble and rip through The Department of Mysteries and gain access to something he should have not been allowed to read. Or memorized it by heart. It had been bad. Worse that he wanted what he read to come true.   
  
It had been a bumpy road of ending Voldemort's terror rein.   
  
He could still remember that first night of people’s cheers going strong into the next morning. Of having to prep funerals and clean up all the broken glass and stones. It had been a slow process of gathering families and friends to mourn properly. Even more when the public kept slipping his name in thousands of conversations and papers. He could only be grateful that the Weasleys and Sirius were still a part of his life. They helped him recover in that first week after finally getting rid of Voldemort.   
  
During that haze, Harry had done a lot to help those that deserved it, made foundations accessible with the wealth that was too high to make him comfortable, and had cried when he held Teddy, his own godson. That had been harder to let go, when he saw him sharing the abilities with Tonks.   
  
The whole trip from the Department of Mysteries had stemmed from his guilt and need to feel as if he didn’t completely fail. When he stood next to the veil that had almost captured his godfather it had made it tangible; death still roamed beneath his shadows as he still lost Remus, Tonks and Fred. He had been slowly going over his new chapter in life, where people had expected him to choose to be an Auror that collected new and old dark wizards and witches. Some days, he wanted that too, just, so he could keep his body busy. But when he had really sat down, and remembered about the book it had latched a new wave of apprehension and hope.   
  
He wanted a peaceful life. One without pain and the media hounding him. It felt like Harry was asking for the bare minimum when he had shared his thoughts with his best friends. Twelve hours later since reading his biography, and he still felt overwhelmed by the choices he apparently would make. He wouldn’t get any more sleep either with the trials for the Malfoys coming up soon later this afternoon. The letter of that sentence been sitting by his nightstand since late May, but each time he had opened it made him feel like he had been put back on that day with the stinging hex still masking his face.   
  
He could still remember himself kneeling on the cold floor and Malfoy’s face close to his. The tension had been thick then, and it still had made Harry uncomfortable that Malfoy and his mother had sacrificed themselves for him back in the war when they could have died for those exact choices. He wouldn’t let their good deeds go buried by Lucius' bad choices.   
  
After all, one couldn’t pick their blood family. He had enough examples in his life to know that.   
  
The creases had worsened from the letter, and as he refolded it his heart latch to his ribs. It had been uncomfortable thinking of his present, and Draco’s. They had always been connected. But now, as young adults, their choices would fully endow their presence in the wizarding world forever. He wouldn’t be a coward during court; he knew what he would have done regardless of a book had already printed. It only proved that Harry’s instincts always held some truth of what came about in his heart.   
  
He knew that once he stepped inside the court and made his own stance the world would think he’d gone crazy for forgiving someone like him, but he knew that there had been goodness that lied in Malfoy. He had shown him that back on that day, and Harry would want to see that kindness again once they’ve started being more comfortable with each other. Harry would help. Because, he knew what would happen next; and he wanted it dearly.   
  
A happy ending.

 

 

 

_Harry James Potter-Malfoy (31 July 1980 - 18 April 2072), married in 2000 to Draco Lucius Malfoy-Potter (5 June 1980 – 18 March 2072). Famous for surviving two killing curses (the first at 15 months, and the second in 1998 at seventeen), as well, for defeating He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named during his youth. He was rewarded..._  
  
_They would later adopt Edward Remus “Teddy” Lupin (4 April 1998 - 16 September 2088) in 2002 and have three other children...._  
  
_By age 20, he would retire and instead work in Hogwarts as a Professor for the Dark Arts for the next 4 decades alongside his partner..._  
  
_They lived happy long lives and marriage with one month of a difference from their deaths. Their contributions in healing potions and multiple humanitarian foundations would eventually help discover cures in a couple of unknown diseases._


End file.
